2026 Frugal Living Challenge

Greying_Pilgrim

mumtoomany - you got the red kidney beans - YAY! I'm so glad, as they are not hot-sellers at our local FF store, and I think of you each time I see the bags.

Greying X

Sausageroll14

@Van_Girl you are most welcome. I really hope this doesn't put you off. Yes Olio is about stopping food waste but it has a wonderful habit of creating a bit of a community feeling as well.

Also congrats on rescuing the food. Every little helps!!

Frugaldom

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81867736#Comment_81867736

You are a food rescuer, my guess is the 'heroes' had other things on their minds and it wasn't anything you did or said. Keep on rescuing the food.

I managed to claim some Olio baked goods - croissants, flatbreads and hot cross buns - every little helps.

Kick-started my interest beater challenge today after checking TCB and finding £4.46 - I know it's not much but again, every little helps. My love of number crunching and calculations concluded that £4.46 is equivalent to one year's supply of spaghetti or pasta.

On another positive note - £75 win on premium bonds! Woohoo! It goes straight back in to buying more bonds but it's still a little boost to the emergency funds.

RavenRover

@Van_Girl don't worry. As @Sausageroll14 says, maybe the person was having a rough time as not all beneficiaries are as nice as you sound. I have had no shows, after I have rushed to get stuff ready, folk arriving earlier than they say they will, people who I am sure are sitting in the next street while requesting stuff, folk literally bombarding me for requests while I am trying to put stuff on. I have given people a rough guideline face to face about what nights to expect me to be ready earlier or later. So maybe the person was feeling overwhelmed. I have messaged regulars in the past when their requests come in and asked them to hold off to give me some breathing space. As I say I usually have 100 -150 items to deal with on my own, it can be a lot to deal with.

Some of my regulars have also told me to say to them if they are ordering too much, but as I reassure them, it's up to me to work out how much people get and as I know them now, I know what they can cope with. It works in my favour. Imagine my delight when one mum took 90 toffee and chocolate apples off my hands one Halloween! Only thing being she forgot to give her own kids any🤣.

Van_Girl

Thanks all, I feel much better! That's very interesting @RavenRover about requesting while still uploading. I think I tend to be quick off the mark so I will leave it a bit and make sure everything is on before I request. I'm only down the road so they might feel a bit hurried by me, which I'd never even considered

fionaandphil

I did a small shop today and also used up some short dated vouchers which came through this week. If anyone has the Holland and Barratt app they may find there are some updates in there, I got £7 off this morning so my total spend was £1.25 and I got some olive oil soap and a wild deodorant refill.

If you are in B & M its worth having a look at the discounted section as there are some bargains. I also picked up some Knorr stock cubes for 29p for a 6 pack so this will help with the soup production and lingering Christmas veg. Boots sale also came up trumps with 5 gift sets picked up for this year, coming in at £14 for them all; now firmly stashed in the gift cupboard.

Total food spend year to date is £166 for 3 of us, slightly more than I had planned but I have restocked the freezer with discounted meat which should last until Easter.

Sausageroll14

I had an indirect win today. So I really fancied a steak and chips dinner. DH was out and near an Asda. He nipped in and sent photos. The steak didn't look great so we saved at least £8 or possible £11. We happily settled for a more simple dinner. I just can't beat my parents local butchers steak. Sometimes the want is worth waiting for.......

Viking_mfw

@fionaandphil thanks for the reminder. I have a short-dated H&B voucher and need a deodorant refill!

Frugaldom

Good evening to all. £41.71 spent on my A5da home delivery and my M0rrie's one is due to arrive later this evening. Once that's been checked off I'll be able to total my grocery spends year to date. Disappointingly, done if the cat food and dog food was out of stock so there are a couple of substitutions being refused once order gets here.

Getting into pancake making mode, although I've not even checked to see when shrove Tuesday is. Tried a free-from-olio pancake mix in a plastic shaker bottle... Never again! Not sure what that stuff is but it didn't make pancakes! Back to good old flour, milk and an egg for me.

Nice save on the Knorr stock cubes @fionaandphil

maryb

Tuesday 17th FYI

should be lots of lemons and eggs leftover/reduced after that -lemon chicken, lemon curd, lemon meringue pie, lemon meringue roulade, lemon syllabub,… yum yum